


Keep It Professional

by joufancyhuh



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Cassandra Verner as a doctor, Cassandra Verner is sane, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Set during the Nexus Uprising book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-20 23:13:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15544287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joufancyhuh/pseuds/joufancyhuh
Summary: Cassandra hunts down Sloane after she ends up injured in her fight with the rebels.





	Keep It Professional

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, this was Slipping. 
> 
> Originally, this was a longfic that I hadn't worked on in over a year that I was fretting over because I didn't know how it would go, I just kept seeing scenes. As soon as I decided to axe Slipping, this popped out. 
> 
> I still very much love these two. And I still love the storyline, but I can't do this as a longfic. So we're going to do a series of one-shots with the same MO and get this story revitalized again. 
> 
> This story is heavy on my personal headcanons for Cassandra. I hope to dive into those in time. It also features a not yet unstable Cassandra. 
> 
> Special thanks to Inquartata for helping me when I got stuck on how to end this.

Cassandra stalked down the hallway toward the private room Sloane used for an office. A slew of curses passed in murmurs from between her lips, her hands clenched into fists at her side. The young doctor had better things to do with her time than to hunt down the Nexus Security Director, but here she was, abandoning her post from the makeshift clinic because Talini said Sloane was being stubborn again.

_Don’t you mean she’s “still” being stubborn? That woman’s going to be the death of me._

She didn’t bother knocking, not when Sloane might turn her away so the Director could attend to her duties. But when the doors whooshed open to grant her access to Sloane’s inner domain, Cassandra regretted not announcing herself.

A large lump appeared in her throat as those piercing heterochromia eyes glared at her. Sloane sat on the edge of her desk, topless and slumped over, bottle of whiskey half-raised to her lips. With a sigh, she set it down on her desk. “Shit. I thought I locked the door.”

A hot flush crept into Cassandra’s cheeks from underneath the collar of her uniform. Her anger, so visceral only a moment before, replaced itself with mortification. Doctor or not, she tore her gaze away from Sloane’s bare chest, choosing to look at the floor instead.

Dammit, she was a doctor! What was she doing? She had seen plenty of breasts in her time, both in a professional and unprofessional manner. Cassandra fought to swallow the lump in her throat, to try to recall some of that earlier rage.

_You’re not here to ogle Sloane’s breasts, nice and perky as they are. And they are very perky._

She shook the thought loose from her head and raised her gaze once more. Sloane’s lips twisted into an amused smirk, finding the show of Cassandra’s internal debate fun. But Cassandra was a professional first and, as she slipped back into her role as a doctor, the annoyance returned with it. “I have better things to with my time than hunt you down, Director. I shouldn’t have to hear it from someone else that you got hurt.”

“Fucking Talini.” Sloane raised the bottle back to her lips. “Damn asari. I told her I was fine.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes, stepping up to the desk to set her medical bag down. “I asked about you, don’t get mad at her.” A large blemish on Sloane’s back caught her eye, between her shoulder blades. Without thinking, she reached out, skimming her fingers over the deep bruise. Sloane winced, but tried to hide her reaction in the bottle. “You don’t seem fine.”

“Just bruises, Cass. Nothing to get your panties in a twist over.”

“And the alcohol?”

“You have your painkillers, I have mine.” Sloane tilted the bottle in Cassandra’s direction, which the young doctor took with gratitude. She sputtered as the bitter taste sloshed inside her mouth, burning its way down her throat. Her mind dwelled on the fact that her lips touched where Sloane’s lips touched.

Cassandra handed the bottle back before turning to root around inside her bag. “You still need medical attention, even if just to clear you for duty.”

Sloane’s laugh, bitter like the whiskey, echoed inside the room. “Or what, they’ll pull another Security Director out of their ass to take my place?”

Cassandra’s hand grazed the hard metal of her portable x-ray. She pulled it out and hit the button on the side to switch it on. “You’ll need to hold still while I make sure nothing’s broken.”

Sloane groaned but complied, setting her bottle aside once more. Cassandra moved the x-ray up one leg, then the other. An uneasy silence settled in the air while she worked. Did she say something wrong? Sloane never stayed this quiet.

She decided to take it upon herself to fill the eerie gap in noise. “You’re stretching yourself thin. If you keep this up, you’re going to crash, hard. I’ve seen it happen.”

A snort followed. Sloane shifted her rear on the desk. “You could say that about anyone awake right now.”

“But none of them work as hard as you do.” It sounded like admiration instead of condemnation, though Cassandra supposed it was a mixture of both. Sloane had a work ethic like no one else aboard the Nexus, like the weight of the entire project rested on her shoulders. Both Addison and Tann didn’t push themselves to the extent Sloane did. Sloane was reckless, but she was a shining star, an example for the rest of them. “How have you been sleeping?”

Cassandra started on the arms next while the same bitter laugh from before resurfaced. Sloane kicked a foot in the air, only for it to fall back down, the heel of her boot clanging against the metal of the desk. “Sleep? Who has time to fucking sleep?”

“Make time. Your body will need it to recover from this attack, if nothing else.”

“Easy for you to say, Cass. This is probably the most work you’ve had since we woke.”

Cassandra gritted her teeth, moving the x-ray to Sloane’s torso. “My work is making sure everyone eats and trying to stop the people here from spacing themselves. Keeping them as healthy and happy as we can be in this shit-box.” She set aside the monitor, then fired up the flashlight to her omni-tool. “Talini said your head took quite the hit. I need to check to make sure there isn’t a concussion.”

Sloane nodded, scooting to the very edge of the desk. Cassandra moved in close, her free hand cupping Sloane’s cheek to control movement of her head. Those beautiful heterochromia eyes stared through her, prickling goosebumps along her arms underneath her uniform. She bristled at the thought of how close their faces were to each other, how easy it would be to lean over and capture the director’s plush lips between her own.

_Focus on work, Cassandra. Daydream all you want later._

The heating in her cheeks died back down as Sloane spoke up. “I wasn’t trying to demean your job. I know it’s important.”

Cassandra ignored Sloane’s words in her forced focus. “Blink.” The pupil dilated with the light, reforming with each blink. “Now, follow the light.” She moved the light slowly from left to right, then right to left. Sloane was fine, if nothing more than a busted body and a bruised ego. She snapped off her omni-tool, but didn’t move away from the close proximity to Sloane. “You’re fine, though I recommend some painkillers for those bruises on your back if you wanted to trade up from the whiskey.”

Sloane shook her head, grabbing the neck of her bottle once more and taking another shot. “You know, Tann and Addison, they’re having those fucking rebels put back into cryo. Like that’s going to fucking solve anything.”

“We’re all scared, Director.” Cassandra slid her bag off the desk, looping the strap over one shoulder. “Those rebels could’ve been any of us.”

“But they fucking weren’t. Meanwhile, it’s my people out there getting hurt trying to pacify these bastards!” Sloane slammed her fist on the desk, almost knocking her drink over. “They deserve to be fucking spaced!”

Cassandra sighed, reaching out to pat Sloane’s knee. “Director, you need sleep; the good kind, not your power naps or light sleeping.”

“There’s no time. I have a meeting in an hour-”

“Cancel it.” Cassandra tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “Clear your schedule. I’ll babysit you if I have to, force you to sleep, but you’re not thinking clearly, and your body needs to recover from those injuries you sustained. I’m sure Kandros can handle things for awhile.”

“I have shit to do, Cass. I can’t just-”

“Doctor’s orders.” When Sloane refused to back down, Cassandra sighed, slinging her bag into the desk chair. On her omni-tool, she called up Talini. “Sloane’s on lockdown. No calls, no work, for the next 12 hours. Let Kandros know.”

Sloane straightened as she began her protest. “You can’t do that.”

After receiving confirmation that her order was received, Cassandra slammed the ‘tool shut. Then she smirked at Sloane. “I just did.” She picked up Sloane’s shirt from off the floor and sat it beside the glaring woman on the desk. “Sleep. I’m going to stay and do paperwork, make sure you’re not secretly working.”

Sloane muttered a string of curses under her breath as she struggled with her shirt. Cassandra watched her attempt to tug it over one arm while holding her breath against the pain and decided to step in. Grabbing the cloth of the white undershirt, she bunched it up around the arm hole, then guided Sloane’s arm through it. “Curse at me all you want, but I’m trying to help. You’re just too headstrong to realize that.”

“I realize enough.” Sloane’s head ducked through the hole when Cassandra held it out to her. The shirt fell right above her breasts, and Sloane tugged it down fast before rising onto her feet. She shoved past where Cassandra lingered close in case her assistance was still needed. “I can’t believe you have me on fucking bedrest.”

“Only for the next twelve hours.” Cassandra grinned and moved her bag from the chair so she could plop down. Good thing she brought her datapad, giving her something to do while she made sure this willful patient followed orders. “Maybe next time, you won’t force me to come find you after you get injured.”

“Or maybe I’ll hide better.” Sloane sat down on her cot, tugging off her boots to sit beside the bed in an orderly fashion.

“Go to sleep, Sloane.” Her name slipped from Cassandra’s lips before she could stop it.

_So much for professionalism._

Sloane glanced over to Cassandra, a grin on her face. “Go fuck yourself, Cass.” But she laid down, tucking the blanket under her chin, and within a few minutes, the deep rise and fall of her chest signaled her drift into sleep.

Cassandra ran her scanner just to be sure Sloane wasn’t pretending. She didn’t underestimate Sloane, and wouldn’t put it past the other woman to act in order to get Cassandra out of her way. But all signs pointed to a very real and much needed sleep. The young doctor sighed in relief, and turned back to her datapad.


End file.
